Exeter rugby director Rob Baxter has urged football’s law-makers to be careful after they agreed that sin-bins should be trialled at higher levels of the sport.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has supported the move following a successful implementation in the grassroots game.
Temporary dismissals of players for offences such as dissent and specific tactical fouls were backed by IFAB at its annual business meeting.
Sin-bins have been used in rugby for more than 20 years, and they were introduced across all levels of grassroots football from the 2019-20 season in an attempt to improve levels of respect and fair play in the game.
“I will be honest with you, I am very surprised football are doing it,” said Baxter, who is one of the English game’s most respected voices.
“I was a bit surprised when football went to VAR, and I am not sure how much they realised they were letting the genie out of the bottle.
“We are meddlers in sport, and rugby is the worst of the lot. We have actually realised we want less TMO (television match official) intervention, the international game is saying we need less TMO intervention.
“All the commentators and ex-professional footballers are saying we need way less VAR interference, and if it does happen it has to happen quickly and the crowd need to know what it is about because it is just causing mayhem in big games.
“Once you start the process it is very hard to stop tinkering with it. They are tinkering with it all the time.
“One of the things that football has always had as its strength is that everyone can explain the rules within five minutes to your average new supporter and they will get it.
“My advice to football would be just be careful. Do you think you genuinely need it to improve player behaviour?
“Or do penalties, free-kicks and yellow cards as they stand, which can escalate to reds for a double yellow, have they got the sanctions already within their game to control player behaviour and they just haven’t been using them?
“That is what I see in football. They have got the sanctions available in their game, so use them. For player abuse you only need to do it in one or two games and things change very quickly.
“Introducing yellow cards and removing players from the pitch is something I would be very careful of.”
Baxter warned against the danger of quick fixes, and believes rugby has had its share of problems in this area.
“We have been guilty of starting processes without thinking about the repercussions,” he added. “We think they are quick-fixed, and actually are they?
“The big debate on the football radio this morning was to get rid of VAR completely because they don’t want two-minute stoppages while someone decides if it was a handball or not.
“We brought that into rugby and realise we’ve pushed it to the Nth degree. You have got to be careful with the card thing.
“When you start to say that taking players off the pitch is your way of controlling player behaviour, you’ve got to be careful about when you want to limit it.
“We brought it in the right way because it was for repeat infringements on the whole. It was something that was required in rugby to stop repeat, repeat, repeats in a cynical way.
“We’ve gone through the period of realising that taking players off the pitch at every available opportunity is not necessarily the way to create a good game.”
England and Saracens number eight Vunipola fined after arrest in Mallorca
England international Billy Vunipola has confirmed he has been fined after an incident which saw him arrested in Mallorca on Sunday, with his club Saracens set to launch an internal investigation.
On Monday, widespread reports claimed Vunipola had been tasered by Spanish police in the early hours of Sunday morning, with an altercation taking place after he left a club in Palma.
Saracens later confirmed they were aware of an incident and said they would deal with it internally.
The number eight, who was born in Australia but has represented England 75 times, later released a statement of his own via his club, denying that any violence took place and confirming the police investigation was now closed.
"I can confirm I was involved in an unfortunate misunderstanding when I was leaving a club in Mallorca on Sunday, which got out of hand," that statement read.
"Contrary to media reports, there was no violence, no fight and I did not threaten anybody at any stage, with bottles or chairs or anything else.
"I was charged with resisting the law and, following an 'express trial', I have paid a fine of €240. The Spanish police investigation is now closed, and I am flying back to the UK today.
"I will obviously cooperate with the Saracens internal process and unreservedly apologise for any inconvenience to all involved."
Fraser Brown ‘hugely proud’ of Scotland career as he announces rugby retirement
Fraser Brown declared himself “hugely proud” of his Scotland career as he announced his retirement from professional rugby.
The 34-year-old Glasgow hooker has not played since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament while playing for the World XV against the Barbarians at Twickenham last May and he has now conceded defeat in his bid to return to action.
Brown won 61 Scotland caps, with the first of them coming against Italy in 2013 and the last in the Six Nations match at home to Ireland in 2023, the same game incidentally in which Stuart Hogg won his final cap. The front-rower went to both the 2015 and 2019 World Cups.
“When you have a serious injury like I did with an ACL at the end of your career, it is always going to be hard to come back from,” Brown told Scottish Rugby.
“That probably made it a little easier to announce my retirement but it’s still a surreal and strange feeling.
“I’m hugely proud to have played so many times for Scotland during my career. To get one cap was great, but then my second one came against the All Blacks at Murrayfield which was such a special occasion.
“To reach 50 caps was a big moment as I had to deal with a lot of injuries throughout my career and to be part of the growth process of the team which has resulted in where they are now has been cool.”
At club level, Brown made 141 appearances for Glasgow after joining from Edinburgh in 2011.
The hooker helped them win the Guinness Pro12 in 2015 with victory over Munster in the final in Belfast, while his last appearance for Warriors proved to be last season’s Challenge Cup final defeat by Toulon in Dublin.
Glasgow head coach Franco Smith paid tribute to Brown, saying: “Fraser is the epitome of a modern professional and someone who should serve as a role model to any young player starting their journey.
“The respect with which he is held, not only within the Glasgow Warriors community but within the wider rugby family, should serve to underline the achievements he has earned throughout his career and the manner in which he has achieved them.
“His work ethic and determination to bring the best out of the people and players around him has been clear to all throughout his career.
“I wish him the very best for whatever comes next and I know he will apply that same work ethic and determination that made him one of this club’s most distinguished Warriors.”
Brown becomes the second experienced Scotland front-rower to announce his retirement in the space of a month after Edinburgh prop WP Nel recently revealed he would be hanging his boots up at the end of this season.
England tap into knowledge of Brian Ashton to play entertaining brand of rugby
England have been tapping into the knowledge of veteran attack guru Brian Ashton to achieve their aim of filling Twickenham.
The Red Roses ran in 14 tries in an 88-10 victory over Ireland that places them on the brink of claiming a sixth consecutive Guinness Women’s Six Nations title when they face France on Saturday.
A thrilling attacking performance before a 48,778 crowd was born out of the belief that in order to play in front of a full house of Twickenham at next year’s home World Cup, they must play appealing rugby.
And helping them achieve that aim is Ashton, a former England men’s head coach regarded as a visionary in the game whose expertise has been enlisted by Red Roses boss John Mitchell.
“Brian makes us ask questions. ‘If this is the picture, what is the easiest way that you can take the wins?’” said Dow, who ran in a hat-trick against Ireland.
“I do think it is about asking those questions and having Brian Ashton available throughout the week…I absolutely adore the man.
“The way he phrases things almost makes you re-think the philosophy of rugby. I think in the English brand the philosophy is ‘let’s kick to the corner, let’s take the territory’. But is that the philosophy of all rugby? Can we expand that?
“At the end of the day, professional rugby is a business in its own way. We need to be proving to the whole of England that we can play an exciting brand of rugby.”
While England march on by overwhelming the opposition in front of them, Ireland’s blowout highlights the gulf in class in the women’s game and affects the credibility of the Six Nations.
The Red Roses have accumulated 228 points after four rounds and France are the only European team capable of taking the wind out of their sails when the rivals clash in Bordeaux.
“I 100 per cent think teams will catch up and as much as we may be on top now, it is on us to try and work to keep that place and demand more from ourselves,” Dow said.
“Because as much as we’d love the game to grow, we want to keep the gap ourselves and continue to prove that we can be the best.”
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